Well after grounding them I didnt hear anymore ticking until after 20 mins of driving it and I parked it. I noticed that it only began ticking when I backed into my parking space in reverse.

So 4 hours after this, I drive the car again and hear no tick. After about 20 minutes of driving I stop and put the car to park gear and there is no ticking. Then I back into my parking space in reverse and the ticking comes back. I noticed that when putting the car in reverse, the rpms drop lower and at this time, I'm guessing this is when the vtcs tick. Is this a common problem?

Also the ticking seems to be louder and only at low rpms. At rpms above 1300 the ticking is gone. So ticking only at idle and below 1300.

Also if I were to unground them, what would be the best thing to use to connect the yellow/green wire into one piece? Should I just splice each end and connect them. BTW, I tapped the ground wire into it. Thanks guys!

 

What kind of oil/filter are you using??

 

Using the toyota corola one. Put it in about 2000 miles ago in July 2005. So I may need a new one lol. Also should I have sanded down the ground terminal?

 

Yeah,try a oil/filter change....And make sure you have a good connection on the ground....

 

Okay i'll try that. Thanks man.

 

ok i have the same problem...after grounding vtc ...but i havent changed oil recently either....but if u ground the vtc should it stop the clattering no matter what the oil flow?...i just grounded the front wire as mentioned in another thread....maybe i should do both?...i plan to change the oil and get a toyota filter soon....but i also have other problems ...sometimes my car just dies while driving ...well it doesnt comepletly die usally but the rpms just jump up and down and i lose most of my power till i let the rpm fall below 1k then it works again... i think its the injectors or coils but not sure?...1 other thing i tried using the self diagnostic ecu but i cant see any lights flashing...is everything ok or am i doing something wrong?... it does not indicate that it is working
...i have read many of these threads but the more i read the more everyones problems seem to be the same as mine ...now everytime i find a problem on her i think it is my problem.......i would appreciate some more specific info .....thanks

 

ps . when i grounded the vtc it definatly ticks less often and also is not as loud when it does tick...but still sounds like the vtc clatter just quiter..........strangly enough i didnt notice any power loss in fact it seems to be more responsive?....i dunno this problem i kinda complex ...but ur help is appreciated

 

same here, im kinda confuzed, i tryed to ground them, i grounded the red wire on the front one, wrong wire?? should i ground the yellow??, anyway i did not notice any difference.


i have a set of new sprockets, im going to see how much a mechanic will charge to replace the whole units

 

uhhhhh.....im no mechanic but i grounded the yellow green wire...i used these directions to do mine... i mentioned earlier i used a guide from here but i see that it isnt from maxima.org...oppss...hope its the right one
http://www.geocities.com/bracecraig/maxima/vtc/vtc.html

 

ya i read that too, i didnt see whitch wire to ground, i hope i dent mess anything up, im going to try the yellow tommorow

thnkas

 

one other note ...the toyota nissan filter(p/n90915-yzzaz(old model #) or p/n90915yzzfz (new model #))...have been said to quite the vtc noise

 

ya the yellow is ur ground...i wouldnt start agian till u correct that.....

 

[URL="http://www.geocities.com/bracecraig/maxima/vtc/vtc2.html"]
....this is a link form the previous page i posted ....look here it is more detailed

i still need help...thanks

 

this is normal



they aren't actually clacking ("ticking"), listen carefully and you will hear the springs saying "replace meeee, replaaacce meeeee"

 

ok..so no quick fix for the vtc after all....how bout the stalling ...and the ecu thingy....lol

 

Mine just say "you can go faster than this..."

 

i grounded the yellow wire, still the same, i guess they are compely shot

 

Appologies if this prints twice. I just rebuilt my VTCs and when I did the Timing Chain Tensioner Movement test per the TSB (EM93-005) I found that the front top tensioner was not pumping out and the noise was probably coming from the timing chain. When I changed the oil I found that 10W-30 made the noise worse and that using 15W-40 high mileage engine oil the ticking quieted down some. Other people have said that for bad VTCs using the thinner oil helps, so perhaps this is a way to differentiate between the two problems?

 

any suggestions on the stalling or ecu

 

Did it stall before you grounded the vtc's???

If so then unground them until you get the vtc's fixed..


You probably didn't do something right when you tried to pull the codes on the ecu....Try it again,Slowly this time...

 

I had stalling when I turned or especially when I started from a stop and turned. I reduced it to just a flat spot by replacing my vacuum hoses. They had developed cracks (especially fuel pressure regulator) in the ends that weren't very visible. I was having a flat spot upon standing acceleration and I mostly fixed it by adjusting the throttle position sensor. I rotated it until the upper resistance limit was reached (9 kohms) while the throttle switch still operated at closed throttle.
The ECU, on my car, requires the screw it it's side to be rotated one way, then back, to get the codes (count short pulses, then the long ones, 55 imeans there are not codes.) I'm sure this procedure with codes is mentioned in the stickys.

 

the stalling was an issue before i grounded the vtc....isnt actually done it since i grounded them ....but i m sure that didnt fix it ...i just hasnt happened again yet...its happens very spuraticlly ......and as i said it doesnt always stall but with the pedal to the floor the rpms just bounce up and down like between 1-3k ...it does this untill it stalls or i take my foot off the gas and let the rpms fall below 1k or pull over and stop........i will check my vacuum lines...... but my problem usually happens when crusing for a while without and staring or stopping or shifting

....you know i havent actually got an accurate guide for using the ecu...the best i found was on about.com(i didnt help much).....i think i have tryed every combination possible for it and i just cant make it light up.....does anyone have a link for this procedure

....

 

....is the throttle position sensor something that i should be adjusting ... i was looking at the chilton and dont see an adjustment...is it the screw in the center on the back side.....can u tell my how u measured the resistance for this?

 

Coils win the prize for stalling in my experience, but really it all depends.

 

When I fiddled with this I could find nothing in the manuals about adjusting it, yet ther TPS is attached to the throttle by two bolts in slots, obviously for adjusting it's relationship to the throttle plate. There's a blurb in the Autozone website, but I couldn't backprobe the connector, so I winged it. Here's a good site for this adjustment.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d801f4f31.jsp

 

did you read the instructions for how to ground them? There is a giant link on the first page that actually takes you to the instructions


do NOT ground the red wire

 

This is what happens when you ground the red wire...

 

... i read that testing the resitance on the coils doesnt always tell how they act under a load...is this true...is this the only way to test them.....
thanks for ur help all ....any other suggestions are appreciated as well

....fyi...im not the one that grounded the red just so we are all clear on that one.....lol

 

any advice for using the ecu...i am trying to find some detailed instructions....it seems easy but i cant get it to flash at all ...

 

ya i read them, im not a good reader i guess



so something fed up??? i got only the yellow grounded now

 

well when u grounded the red wire u probably shorted it out so now they wont work, which is the objective anyhow ..just not the recomended fix.....so the ground wire probably is no longer nessecary..again not a mechanic just seems logical to me.

 

have you guys thought about lifter / rocker arm ticking? thats what im looking at now , i grounded my VTC , still got the same noise, no differant , changed my oil within the next 2 days to 5w-30 to 10w-40 , quiet`ed down the noise but its still there , is it possible my camshaft isn't moving the oil up the engine quick enough so its low on top or something? the oil is filled properly and my engine is not burning or leaking any,

 

I still think that, based upon problems other people have posted here, that it's more likely to be the tensioners. Thicker oil quiets them a bit since it probably doesn't leak out of them as fast and allows them to be pumped up more.

 

if the vtcs have been ticking for long enough grounding them wont fix the problem i tryed ground mine on both my engines and they both quieted for a few minuites but then started ticking again so you know its the vtcs and not the chain/tentioners/lifters because those would have nothing to do woth grounding the vtcs

 

mine didn't change at all , ground made no differance , but i went from a thicker oil to a thiner oil and my car is making less to no ticks , shrug , cars are w3ird.

 

I joined this forum to get some solid info on the VTC problem. Of course I joined the day they made the rule that you have to post 15 times to be able to start a thread.

So I'm going to try jumping in on this. Is there a site that fully explains what is going on with the VTC problem? I've read some of the achived material on this site but it is not as comprehensive as I would like.

We have a 93 SE that blew a VTC one or two years ago. It started the sporatic ticking again a while back. Now the ticking is much less but we have a definate loss of power and it won't pass emissions. Lots of HC at 2500 RPM.

Will the VTC do this?

Thanks for your help. fitz

 

I haven't been able to find and thing outside of this site that detailed how VTCs work or why they fail but the best discussion on it that i have see is in this thread http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=vtc . I dont think the Vtcs would effect emmissions, what do you mean it blew a VTC? Normaly when one blows the engine goes with it. finally a little bit of a noobie question what is HC? all I can think of is hydrocarbon.

 

heres a thread I made with alot of vtc pics and links that may help you too.

***Edit***

My bad just now noticed I didn't include a link.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=vtc

 

Thanks for the help.

By "blew" I mean that it came apart into at least two parts. Didn't damage engine but only one VTC was replaced at that time.

Good guess on HC. It is Hydrocarbons. (Unburned fuel) One of the three big bad gases that our emission controls try to eliminate.

I have been able to determine from the info on this site that the VTC noise and lack of power may not be related. High HC generally means an engine miss. Can't say we can feel one. Slight lack of smoothness at idle but clean on the Hydrocarbons at idle.

High HC output only happens at the 2500 RPM test speed.

Going to investigate the injectors next. Fuel pressure is good. I'll probably do a Motorvac next.

I've seen lots of other good info on all the other problems it has. ie. door locks, seat belt warning, etc.

Thanks again, fitz

 

Fitz,
At speeds above idle, the VTCs are activated , so if they aren't activating (solenoids open, oil pressure applied to VTCs, they rotate slightly with respect to cams and advance cam timing) it could affect engine. However, at these rpms the O2 sensor controls the air/fuel settings. I'd inspect that next.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d801f4e84.jsp